title: Sodium oxybate in narcolepsy with cataplexy: Zurich sleep center experience.
abstract: Sodium oxybate (SO; Xyrem®) has been approved in most countries for treatment of narcolepsy and cataplexy. In this study, we present a single-center experience of a series of 18 patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy (18/18 DQB1*0602 positive, 17/17 with low/absent cerebrospinal fluid hypocretin) in whom SO was prescribed. After 26 ± 13 months, 13/18 patients were still on SO at a mean dosage of 6.1 ± 1.2 g (in 8 of them in combination with stimulants). The following significant effects were observed: improved subjective sleepiness (12/13), cataplexy (13/13; median number of attacks from 20 to 1/month), hallucinations (8/10) and sleep paralysis (8/8); increase in mean sleep latency on the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (from 5.5 to 17.4 min) and sleep/rest efficiency on actigraphy (from 61 to 76%); decrease in Epworth Sleepiness Scale score (from 18 to 14), sleep onset REM periods on the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (from 3.6 to 2.4) and errors in the Steer-Clear Test (from 11 to 2%). Five patients discontinued SO because of insufficient compliance (n = 2), lack of efficiency (n = 1) and side effects (n = 1). These data confirm and expand previous reports on the good effects and tolerability of SO as a treatment for narcolepsy with cataplexy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Poryazova
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tartarotti
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khatami
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Valko
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kallweit
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Werth
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Bassetti
mesh_terms: D056044:Actigraphy; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002385:Cataplexy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009290:Narcolepsy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017286:Polysomnography; D012978:Sodium Oxybate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D012978:Sodium Oxybate